SPOILER ALERT: This post spoils the entire first season of Crew Girl now out on Netflix.
Just as Teagan Tao (Miku Martineau) has adjusted to her new life as coxswain of Easton Prep’s all-boys rowing team, while navigating a love triangle between her two teammates Cam Dillinger (Kyle Clarke) and Josh Regis (Samuel Braun), another catch stalls her momentum.
A fork in the road presents itself when Britney Garner (Sage Linder), Baloo’s (Jude Wilson) surrogate twibling sister, decides to throw funding via the Garner Foundation behind an Easton Prep girls’ rowing team, of which she will be a part, teasing Teagan that it will be fun to be crewmates next year, but undercutting that with the ultimatum of “Looks like you row for me now.”
Teagan and Britney didn’t exactly hit it off when they first met, with Britney introducing herself as Student Council president and daughter of Senator Garner, and Teagan making the faux pas of rolling her eyes at “yacht bros and pretentious horse girls.” Britney is captain of the equestrian team, which will be interesting for her to balance should Crew Girl get renewed for a Season 2.
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“The thing for Teagan will always be: ‘If you’re a rower, you’re a rower, and you don’t want to be coxing.’ Coxing is a bit of a demotion,” creator Vivian Lin told Deadline. “She loves it. It explores a side of leadership to her. She loves it because she loves the team, and so there is a real existential question for her going into the next season. And what does that mean? Britney is a pretty good foe. Britney is competitive. So what does that mean when she’s head-to-head with someone who is actually her match?”
The question of whether Teagan could still cox the boys does not get answered, creating tension between her desire to get back to rowing herself and maintaining her new leadership position she has taken up with the boys. Not to mention, making nice with Britney, if they are going to be teammates. Lin pointed out that though Josh may have contributed to the rivalry because he was dating Britney at the time Teagan arrived at Easton Prep, the feud is about more than just a boy.
“I find their relationship very complicated. Yes, Josh sort of started [it] but it’s not really about Josh. It’s about these two [girls] who are incredibly competent at the top of their game because they suss each other out the first time that they meet each other,” Lin said. “And it’s like, ‘I don’t want to lose to you’ is always in both of their minds. So, what does that look like? And now on the water?”
When Josh breaks up with Britney at the Fall Formal, he and Teagan get involved almost immediately after, and that is on the heels of him brazenly declaring that he doesn’t want to be just friends with her at the end of Episode 4. This complicates things for Teagan, who has begun to kindle something with Cam.
“[With] Cam, we knew that they both are rowers. It’s a very spiritual connection between them, they both see a lot of themselves in each other, and then with Josh, it was interesting, it’s very instinctual, there’s something lizard brainy about it,” creator Vivian Lin told Deadline. “The real appeal about Josh that starts to come to light is that because they started as enemies, they are very truthful to each other. There are no kid gloves. With Josh, she doesn’t have to censor herself or protect herself. It is just pure instinct, pure reaction, pure reflexes. With Cam, there are sensitivities. He’s in a disadvantaged place, much like she is. So she is careful. Cam and [Teagan] are bonded, but she knows that she needs to be protective.”
Things fell apart between Teagan and Cam at Fall Formal when financial aid was brought up, and Cam decided to break things off with Teagan. By the end of the season, she has also seen Josh come to terms with a big health setback that he’s been battling in secret. In the process, he gives his coveted stroke seat in the boat to Cam, who arguably has been the rightful choice all along.
“We leave it with Josh having this big turnaround about his whole perspective on life and what his whole identity is. He knows that he wants to go and be a better person. So what does that mean for them?” Lin said. “Meanwhile, Cam has healed a little part of himself because now he’s a leader. Dreams can come true, and some goals can come true. So he’s ascending into his own place. Now he’s feeling more confident about his himself and being an appropriate partner.”
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Josh has a serious heart condition, one that he should not be rowing with. He hides it from his parents out of pressure from his grandfather, who is constantly pitting him and his cousin Ryder (Connor Paton) against each other in rowing and for the Regis Airlines family business. Josh eventually informs both his father and grandfather, who react completely differently to the news. Josh’s grandfather chooses disappointment and moves on quickly to Ryder as heir to the throne, while Josh’s dad expresses empathy for him and promises to get him the care he needs. Josh’s future in the boat is anyone’s guess at this point.
“We are taking it seriously. He really does have hypertrophic obstructive cardiomyopathy, HOCM. There are ways to — well, I don’t want to spoil anything. It is serious. We don’t know. Josh doesn’t know. So what does that mean for his life?” Lin said. “And what does that mean for his family? They are now on the outs. There’s really interesting things to explore in that world, and if he’s not a rower, what does he have in common with anybody now?”
Though Teagan and Cam finally share a kiss at the end of Season 1, thanks to writer and co-executive producer Jennica Harper, who called Lin to demand a kiss scene, Coach Hayden’s (Thomas Cadrot) daughter Madison (Hana Huggins) can’t be ruled out as a love interest for the blue collar rower with big dreams.
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“There’s a vibe. Much like Teagan and Josh don’t have to censor themselves [around each other], Madison is that for Cam. He can just absolutely be who he is with her. He’s very relaxed, right? He’s not trying to be his best self,” Lin said. “Something about Madison really brings that out. There’s a special connection there, and I think it’s going to get complicated or messy. And it’s also complicated because she is coach’s daughter, and she and Teagan like each other and have already been in cahoots. So who knows?”
